TIL

The original inventor of the shopping cart hired decoys to walk around supermarkets when the cart was first invented, given that prior to doing so, it didn’t seem to catch on.

Jono Dry’s How I Plan My Drawings has a nice suggestion for how to zero in on the boundaries of an idea (in the context of an artistic work, but it seems likely more widely applicable).

Namely — intentionally increase the failure rate of what you’re trying to accomplish …

11 Foot 8 is the nickname of a bridge in North Carolina that everyone essentially crashes into.

There are a ton of videos on YouTube of various “can opening” crashes despite numerous warning signs.

Poka-Yoke is a methodology in which a system is designed to methodologically discourage incorrect operation.

E.g. (from the above Wikipedia page):

a fixture that holds pieces for processing might be modified to only allow pieces to be held in the correct orientation, or a digital counter might track the …